dkkim73

Very cool. I'll bet the Stearman guys enjoyed that, too.. esp if you guys were in burner for the climb. And yes that looks like Meigs. D

@Rick Junkin Junkman, Are you still liking that installation arrangement? Now that I've had the plane a bit and have gone through the schematics, I'm circling back to this task. Thinking that the best mix of cost-effective, clean, and good prevention is to start with one BatteryMinder, 2 certified install kits, and the manufacturer's Y-connector (looks like it limits cross-current IIUC). Then can charge/condition each battery and then Y them together for maintenance with the S5 connector. Post-flight, as long as the cross-battery trickle charge is working, I am thinking can go directly to the Y-connector. Unfortunately don't have my own hangar, but boarding at 2 very reasonable places, so I think they will help me with occasional hook-ups. There is some clause in one contract about not leaving things plugged in, but at some point I could get a SwitcheOn and use it to run the minder and the pre-heat separately. @Brandt Brandt, similar question. I know you kept your install more "central" in the tail. Are you still happy with the trade-off of pulling the side panel to hook up or maintain batteries? And do you do it every time you park? @donkaye's setup is very elegant as well. He has inline fuses so I am thinking it is as safe as the certified setup, and all the non-aircraft parts are transient and outside the airframe to boot. Thanks, David

This might be a dumb question, but is something causing the batteries to be abused? E.g. the trickle-charge fuses blown, regulator off, etc?

So, after nearly joining in, then dropping out, I find myself in a position to want Bluetooth, LEMO, and an additional headset. Calling for clearance in the sticks with variable radio reception suddenly make BT seem like less of a luxury. Looked at further modding my old DC 10-13.4 by adding a LEMO plug and BT box, but at this point getting an additional headset makes more sense. --> So... how do you guys like your Delta Zulu's? I've looked at a few reviews incl. that, the A30, and the DC One-XP. It sounds like the strengths of the DZ are - passive attenuation - warranty - extra features (the audio EQ seems most interesting to me). (BTW I think the "buy n+1, get a better deal" offer is no longer active, so mostly just trying to buy smart for the next many years) Thanks, David

Yes, to clarify I am trying to understand if I should consistently always lean it a lot further out. Someone mentioned adjusting MP to further affect FF. It isn't clear what the relationship would be to TIT LOP; is the higher mass flow cooling in it's effects? Or is it going to lean it further despite the mechanical mixture. And then since FF determines energy flow LOP, one could adjust MP and RPM for whatever gives the best mechanical efficiency. Eg use the POH or do test runs to fill in a matrix of TAS. (I am) Overcomplicating this for sure. But ty for verifying the concern re < 1600F. D

Great PIREP. I am seeing old Bob Stevens cartoons in my head as a result of reading your description. That's high praise in aviation humor!

Do it! I've only flown into Pal-waukee, so I'm living vicariously through you guys. Missed Meigs by not very much time. Of course, I could've been grounded when the Pharoah of Chicago closed the airport overnight...

Some notes from my kneeboard yesterday, and looking now at the G1000 logs.... Yesterday I was at 15K with OAT at one point -22C, saw: 29"/2500 72LOP TIT 1618 FF 16.7 TAS 194 29"/2500 90LOP TIT 1600 FF 16 TAS 183 29"/2500 FF 16.9 TIT 1638 (so would be about 52LOP) TAS 190 (not sure that makes sense, that was captured a bit later) 25"/2500 83LOP TIT 1584 FF14.3 TAS prob around 173 avg (decelerating, and other things changing then) I was looking over the posts, and some guidance from @Schllc and others about staying below TIT 1600 (before I'd registered an intuition for these #s). Doh. I'd been shown how to use the lean find during transition, according to the POH, and that leaves me significantly north of 1600 at times. 1650 was mentioned by another experience pilot as a caution #. The engine has a GAMI spread of 0.6-0.7gph and a few folks think the injectors would help narrow further. I've sent a log to GAMI and got a few calls in to them (I think they're behind due to Sun n Fun). I could also just keep leaning it out past the above points, as the engine needs to go quite a bit further to get noticably rough. Has anyone written a "procedure guide" for these LOP ops for the Acclaim? I'm particularly confused during the descent, where I want to stay a bit lean until go-around, but probably not the wildly LOP from up at altitude. I understand that the system is supposed to adjust up to a point with power changes, but when walking back the MP during the descent, it would be nice to have a procedure to follow. Well, that was longer than intended, but this is an interesting conversation! David

Hi All, I had not been routinely checking my standby alternator. As it is part of the IFR pre-flight, esp. in FIKI planes, I started doing it recently. My question is: what do you normally see in the part of the procedure where you have the Stdby field ON, Main alt field OFF, and pull the 70A BAT breaker? It says the warning light should extinguish (I also look for positive charge). The manual warns that this doesn't occur below 2000, but I am seeing it happen a bit higher. Maybe because I drained my battery pre-start, but who knows... Figured I'd ask the hive mind. Thank you, David

Or the voltage regulator. I took this as a good opportunity to learn a bit about the system... the "M20TN SERVICE & MAINTENANCE MANUAL " (MAN180.pdf) has a pretty good description of theory and also has troubleshooting and service instructions, including voltage adjust. The voltage regulator ("APAC" in that reference) is actually fairly full-featured. That said, if something's changed, you would presumably want to thoroughly check everything before just empirically adjusting the voltage. Perhaps a more experienced person (esp. A&P) can weigh in here on whether these things drift on their own. HTH, D

At much as much younger, fitter age, I recall doing a quick trip via Aasgard pass to Prusik peak, 7 pitches of reasonable rock climbing for a novice. It was magical, that basin. Hope you get a pass!

Alan, I recently had a bit of a scare where, shortly after annual (with some known older cylinders), a local mechanic suggested I replace all the cylinders at around 1450 hrs. There are some other factors to that story, BUT... There was audible leakage on the exhaust valves on two cylinders, low compression on one and "marginal" on another (24 and 40 at first mechanic, 34 and 60 at the 2nd opinion/treatment shop). Anyhow, after lapping and ring flush they came up, 70 and 64 cold and 74 and 70 hot. Seems the valve made a huge difference in the first case. Both cylinders have wear but the more conservative voices thought the situation was manageable with the more minimally-invasive, "Savvy" type approaches others above have mentioned. The 2nd local shop has a lot of experience with these techniques and say they often yield results. It seems to run well. We'll keep an eye on via borescope and periodic inspection. YMMV, but so far I am appreciative of this approach. David

The Ridgid cordless one (rectangular that used the tool batteries) was very good, but had been discontinued a few years ago. So if found used… would be great for a plane. Hoping for similar, I bought the Makita but was disappointed. Haven’t tried the Milwaukee but similar idea overall.

@UteM20F Glad you guys are OK! I will be flying to SLC in the next couple years to visit my son, so I am following all your airport and bird posts @GeeBee Did not know that restriction was bird strike related, very interesting info! Articles are great, thanks for the links. DK

If one path is grounded through an aluminum alloy and then to steel, and one directly to steel, might there be a galvanic gap? Agree old long wiring and connections are more common and universal explanations. D

That's interesting. Is it common to do that? (and, I mean this as a curious neutral question, is it safe/approved?) I would imagine you would dissolve a lot of things. Do you just re-grease and re-lube (spray lube) the moving parts afterward, and assume everything else that came off should? Thanks, D

My guard/airline pilot bud said "you put it on one leg at a time". Kind of true. There's space, but it's different. Those excellent cars are not a terrible analogy.

I think this is well-said. I'll be honest. The M20TN demands more from me as a 320hr ish private pilot (instrument). Just commuted back today and landed with some significant low-level wind shear (approach was warning everyone). Which is just great when 5 extra knots can take you to the next county Went around once, thought I had it dialed in then felt that slow sickening 2nd bounce... But it's a great airplane. It was, for me, very much driven by mission. I would feel way more comfortable horsing down a C-182 or a PA-28. I'm still learning. But it is very, very efficient and capable. Turbo, TKS, stability, avionics. HTH and that you find someone to give you a ride, D

FWIW 670105 was transiently in stock at Aircraft Spruce. *If* that's right for your Mooney, keep searching. @LANCECASPER's point is well-taken, make sure the model #... (I reached out to some Acclaim bros here on Mooneyspace). HTH D

Noticed that pending cycles do not turn color to show available, although clicking on the prior cycle implies the next cycle is available. Eg nav data I get thought most of the updates overlap a bit to allow for preloading. Hopefully will get to the plane in the next day or so to try. @Marc_B does clearing the downloads prompt auto downloading or do you have to force it by attempting to write a card? And do you reinstall the whole program? Thx D

Funny I was just thinking about this. I noticed some cracked paint and scratches just outboard of the skid tape on the starboard wing root. Trying to figure out when it happened... For all i know i set something down there, but still one wonders whenever it leaves one's immediate sight.

That makes a lot of sense. I use DevonThink Pro which I bought a zillion years ago but is excellent for document research, etc. Well supported (German company with academic focus) Includes good OCR software as well, which I also use for contracts etc. Searchability is huge... Hth D

@LANCECASPER Ordered! Thanks for the detailed steer. I take it 5' gave you enough for both applications, alt. cooling and filler-to-separator run? (implied in the referenced thread)

Thank you for the clarification. I will look. It would seem a good idea to buy a bunch (larger length) of said tubing, 0.75" ID. Any advice where? (generic source vs. actually looking for a matching part # and aviation-based source) This seems dead-simple, is it generally considered within the scope of preventive maintenance (as owner-operator)? David